Cape Town: In a heartfelt statement, the South African Communist Party (SACP) expressed profound sorrow at the passing of Comrade Sitaram Yechury, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM). Sitaram Yechuri, aged 72, succumbed to a lung infection after a courageous battle.
In the official statement, the SACP said, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Comrade Sitaram Yechury. His unwavering commitment to the working class and his leadership in the CPIM have left an indelible mark on our movement.”
The SACP extended its sincere condolences, stating, “Our thoughts are with the Yechury family during this difficult time. We also stand in solidarity with the leadership and membership of the CPIM, as well as the entire working class in India.”
“Comrade Sitaram Yechury was the topmost leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), an outstanding leader of the Left movement, and a well-known Marxist ideologue”.
“He was a brilliant student who secured a first class in both his undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in economics. He joined the student movement at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1974 and became a leader of the Students’ Federation of India. He was thrice elected as president of the JNU Students Union within two years. He was All-India President of the Students’ Federation …from 1984 to 1986 and played an important role in developing the student organization as an all-India force”.
As the SACP, we have fond memories of Comrade Sitaram as a strong supporter of the anti-apartheid movement, to bring down the bastion of fascist reaction in Pretoria for the liberation of the people of South Africa.
Comrade Sitaram was also a delegate of the CPIM at the 12th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties held in South Africa, and our party had the pleasure of hosting him and engaging in fiery debates on the state of the international working class movement and major contemporary issues of strategy and tactics.
Comrade Yechury was a firebrand Marxist-Leninist theoretician, and our party always sought to strengthen relations with the broader Indian communist movement, as these consolidated under his leadership. We will remember him for being gifted with good writing skills accompanied by oratorical brilliance and Marxist ingenuity in managing very complex issues of political strategy in the communist movement. He was a political commissar of high note and remained consistent throughout his life.
He fought to maintain the secular, democratic character of India and was in this regard an inspiration for many in the world. We lower our banner in memory of this great leader of the international communist movement and we will all continue admonishing his legacy as one of the foremost Communists in the period following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
